Feeding mechanism for bottling-machines.



lMAM Wfl/(wlw J. H. CHAMP.

FEEDING MECHANISM FOR BOTTLING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED 1AN.21.|913.

J. H. CHAMP.

FEEDING MECHANISM FOR BOTTLING MACHINES.

Patented Juy 31, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

APPLICATION FILED ]AN.2I, |913.

77 A 7 v L Mu @M WI www@ /A/VEA/TO/ ad# W@ J. H. CHAMP.

FEEDING MECHANISM FOR BOTTLING MACHINES.`

APPLlcATloN FILED 11111.21, 1913.

1,234,729. Patented Ju1y 31, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

' a' "MIMI-Alli UNTTED STATES PATENT oEEIcE.

JOSEPH H, CHAMP, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.l

EEEDING MEcHANisnr Eon BoTTLrNG-MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 31, 1917.

Application led January 21, 1913. Serial No. 743,396.

To all 'whom it may concern.:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH H. CHAMP, a' citizen of the United States,and a resident of Cleveland, county of Cuyahoga, and

State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in FeedingMechanism for Bottling-Machines, of which 'the fol'- lowing is aspecification, the principle of the invention being herein explained andthe best mode in which I have contemplated' applying that principle, soas to distinguish it. from -other inventions.

The present improvements more particuf larly relate to the handling ofbottles in con-t are put ontothe bottles by automatic machines. Thepresent invention, accordingly, further comprehends an arrangement orlayout of conveying mechanism which provides, not merely for theIconvenient bringing up of theempty bottles and their feeding onto themachine, but also for the removal and convenient disposition of thefilled bottles for the crking operation, where Stoppers" are usedrequiring -manipulation on the part of operators stationed for thepurpose.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and vrelated ends, the invention,then, consists of the means hereinafter fully described and particularlypointed out -in the claims.

' The annexed drawings and thev following description set forth indetail certain mechanism embodying the invention, such disclosed meansconstituting, however, but one of various mechanical forms in which theprinciple of the invention may be used.

In said annexed drawings Figure 1 is aplan view of my improved bottlehandling mechanism in proper relation to that portion of the fillingmachine wherewith it cooperates; Fig. 2 `is a side yelevation of suchbottle ,handling mechanism; Fig. 3 is a plan view on an enlarged scaleof certain operative parts of the mechanism directly associated with thefeeding of the bottles onto the bottle holders of the filling machineand the -removal of such bottles therefrom; Fig. 4 is a transversesection of the foregoing parts taken 011 the line 4 4 Fig. 3; Fig. 5 isa transverse sectionV of another detail of the mechanism taken on theplane indicated by the lines 5 5 in Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a section'ofanother "detail taken on the line 6 6, Fig. 1; Figs. 7 and 8 illustratea modification in the construction of the supports for the pulleysaround which the conveyer belts run; Fig. 9 illustrates a detail ofoneof the bottle guides; and Fig. `10 shows a preferred arrangement ofdriving means for driving the aforesaid conveyer belts.

As has been indicated, the` mechanism illustrated in thel drawings justdescribed is designed primarily for use where the bottles, after beingdischarged from the fill-v ing machine, require to be manually handledincidentally to corking or other operation performed thereon. It will beunderstood,

however, that the several features of im provement embodied'herein arenot necessarily limited to use in this precise combination, and that thefeeding and discharging mechanisms forexample, may be employed inconjunction with automatic sealing niachines, which would not makenecessary the provision of such an extensive conveyer table with theadjuncts here shown.

The conveyer table 1 as shown in Figs..

1' and 2 is of considerably greater extent longitudinally thantransversely, said table being furthermore jointed or hinged at 2,

so as to permit the portion 3 thereof projecting` to the right beyondthe' filling machine (as shown in said figures), to be folded back abovethe other portion out lof the way, when the mechanism is not in actualuse. The portion of the table l adjacent to .the filling machine, ofwhich only two of the corner supports 4 of the frame, together with afew of the bottle holders 5 are shown, is cut out on a curvecorresponding with the circular path of travel 'of said holders and isdisposed in the same plane.

which said holders occupy when in position fr receiving the emptybottles 6. Said holders, it will be understood, are lowered again tothis same plane when the bottles are to be discharged.

Brackets 7 extending from the corner posts 4 of the filling machine,vtogether with supplemental posts or standards 8 serve to support theconveyer table, such supporting members permitting of the verticaladjustment of the table to bring the same in the desired plane as justexplained.

Running the entire length of the table are two conveyer belts 9 and 10traveling in opposite directions as indicated by arrows 10 in Figs. 1and 2, the upper laps of said belts being slidably supported upon thesmooth upper surface of the table and passing around rollers or pulleys11, 11, and 1'2, 12, at the respective ends of the tables, while idlerpulleys 13, 13 carried by swinging `arms 14, 14 rest upon the lower lapsof they belts and maintain said belts under proper tension. The swingingarms 14, 14 which Vcarry said idler pulleys are pivotally at- 'taehed tothe table on approximately the same axis 2 about which the portion 3 ishinged, so that the latter may be turned up into the position indicatedin dotted outline inFig. 2, and the belts readily accommodate themselvesto the change in position Y without becoming either loose or entangledwith the otherrtparts of the mechanism.

For driving belts 9 and 10 a chain Ydrive is preferably employed, suchdrive consist- 3e ing' of a single chain 15 passing around a doublesprocket 16 of the driving shaft 17 and thence' around two separatesprockets 18, 18 attached to the respective rollers or pulleys 11, 11around which pass said two belts (see Figs. 1, 2 and 9). The arrangementof the chain, as will clearlyappear Y' from inspection of the last-namedof these three figures, is such that, with the driving sprocket 16`turning continuously in one diaareetion, the two driven sprockets 18,18y with their attached rollers 11, 11, willbe rotated p in oppositedirections. Supported above the upper surface of the table, and of theconveyer belts traveling thereon in opposite directions, as justydescribed, are guides 19 disposed along each side 'of the table andbetween the inner edges of the belts, which are spaced some distance`from each other. In fact this central guide 5 is desirably left of suchwidth that it may serve as a shelf on which to place bottles that areto'be discarded, or are improperly iilled, or for any other reasonrequire to be re moved from the general lot. At each end ofthe tablethere is, moreover, a curved guide 20 similarly supported above thetable top, which guideV 20 joins the outer guides and is suitably spacedfrom the end of the inner guide to leave a continuous, closed path forthe bottles to travel down with the one conveyer belt 9 and back on theother conveyer 10.

To facilitate the transfer vr-of the bottles at the respective ends ofthe table from the one V belt to the other, a thin flatdisk 21 is ro-The inner guide 19 on the table is interrupttatably supported with itsunder surface resting on the two belts and with its axis of rotationmidway between them and just at the end of the central guide 19. Theweight of this disk, which may be augmented by attaching a weight 22 tothe bolt or spindle 23 which pivotally secures the same to the table, asshown in Fig. 5, produces suiiicient frictional contact between saiddisk and the two belts so that the latter will rotate each disk in thedirection indicated by the arrows in Fig. l. The disks, however, aresufficiently thin so that a bottle traveling on thefone belt will slideonto the disk and be carried around by it and discharged onto the otherbelt withoutwlifculty.

By reason of the recess in the inner edge of the conveyer table 1, thecorresponding edge of the conveyer belt 10 on that side of the table, isbrought into substantially tangent relation to the circular` path oftravel of the bottle holders 5 of the filling machine, at a pointapproximately midway between the two posts 4 of the filling machineframe.

ed for some distance on either side of this point and special mechanismprovided there, for transferring the empty bottles on to the successiveholders of the filling machine, as they are brought up to this point"byY the inner belt, and for removing the bottles from said holders ontothe same belt, as they are brought around again nearly to this point, tobe carried toward the right hand end of the table as viewed in Figs. 1and 2.

Noting first the device for feeding the empty bottles onto the holdersof the lling machine, the principal element comprised in said device isa pivotal gate member 24 oscillatory in a substantially horizontal planeand of theconformation appearing in Figs. 1 and 3 asthere shown.y Theforward end of this member comprises a concave portion 25 adapted toreceive a bottle for the purpose of transferring the same on to theadjacent holder when the member is swung inwardly, and a convex portion26 which, when interposed in front of the line of bottles on theconveyer belt, serves as a stop to prevent the further progress of saidbottles. A weight 27 adjustable on a rocker-arm 28 supported from abracket 29 beneath the table, is connectedby means of a lever 30V andconnecting rod 31 with the opposite end of this gate member, so asl` tornormally retain the same in the position illustrated in Fig. l, wherethe member acts as a stop. In such posi/tion, an arm 32`integral withthemember ,and carrying a roller 33 to reduce the friction, extendsinwardly toward( theV filling machine into a position where it will? beengaged by the bottle holders 5 or some corresponding part of themachine. The member/is thereby locked into the position illustrated inFig. 3, whereythe stop portion 130 the holders of the filling 26 of themember is carried out of line with the bottles resting on the conveyerbelt 10, and the concave portion 25 of said member disposed to receivethe foremost bottle in said line. Immediately, however, that theparticular bottle holder which thus actuates the member has passedbeyond the point shown in Fig. 3, the roller-bearing arm 32 is released,and the weight 27 swings the gate 24 back into the position of Fig. 1.This movement carries, or transfersthe particular bottle engaged by therecessed portion 25 of the member off the belt 10 and onto the adjacentbottle holder 5 which will be positioned to receive the same by the timethis movement is consummated.

The point of transfer is not exactly that at which the line of travel ofthe bottles on the beltis tangent to the circular path of travel of thebottle holders, but to the left of such point, as will be obviousI froma reference to Fig. l. Accordingly, the holder is in a sense moving awayfrom the bottle when the latter is'thus being transferred, and this ispurposely so designed, since Iv have found that there is much lesstendency for the bottle to break between the moving parts when thelatter are thus relatively disposed, than where the transfer takes placeat a point substantially tangent to the path of travel of the holders.

The section 34 of the guide 19 adjacent the transfer point of the emptybottles onto machine, is pivotally secured to the table at the point 35,so as to-be capable of a limited amount of oscillation in a horizontalplane. The free end of such swinging guide section is, moreover,-recurved so as to assist in forcing the bottles back into the holdersafter they have been transferred by the swinging gate member. Said guidesection is backed by a spring 36 so that a certain amount of resilienceisV assured its action.

By suitably adjusting the weight 27 along the rocker arm 28, just theproper amount of force to effect the transfer of the particu- ,i vlarsize of bottles being dealt with can be gate member 24 is secured, andaccommodation is furthermore made for handling different sizes ofbottles by attaching to the resiliently supported pivotal section 34 ofthe guide, a plate 37 (See Fig. 9), which serves to constrict the widthof the passage along which the empty bottles are conveyed, sufficientlyto prevent such bottles being shoved out of line when the positioned toserve as a stop.

As the filled bottles arebrought around on the holders 5 of the fillingmachine' to a point adjacent to the feeding point, Ias shown :in Fig. l,they are engaged by an arm or finger 38 that is pivotally mounted on a/support 39 .beside the gate member, such finger being inclined at theproper angle to the direction of movement of the holders to force saidbottles from the latter with a wedging or cam action, the flanges on theholders being inclinedy at the. proper angle to coperate with thisfinger in producing the desired result.

A s the bottles are thus shoved off the successive holders they arereceived onto the same belt l0 which brings the emptyV bottles up to thefeeding station, said belt extending for a sufficient distance beyondthis point to afford an opportunity for one or more operators, stationedbeside the table, to attend to the corking. Such bottles will be removedas fast as corked into trays, or

set aside, it may be placed on the shelf-like central guide member 19.Should the rate of operation be such that a single operator can not takecare of the corking, one may be stationed on either side of the tableeX- tension 3, since the bottles will be transferred from the rear beltto the front belt by the rotating disk at the end of said table, just asthe empty bottles are carried across the other end of the table.

The finger 38, which thus serves to remove the bottles from the holders,is normally held in the position where it thus operates by a compressionspring 40 surrounding a rod 41 eccentrically connected with said finger,as clearly shown in Fig. 3. Should,

'crates,disposed by the side of the operator, or if for any reason abottle requires to bev however, the bottle stick on the holder, or, i

tion 25 of said member is disposed to receive the bottles, and theroller on the arm thus held out of the path of travel of the holders 5.The spring is designed to be strong enough to' overcome the tendency ofthe weight 27 to force the gate member into its other position, so thatsaid gate member is effectually locked and the feeding operation thusautomatically stopped until the operator restores the finger to itsnormal operation, first, of course, correcting the cause of thedisturbance.

The foregoing described means provide a simple and veryJeffective.mechanism for handling bottles in connection with a bottlefilling machine of the class in mind, and it has been found by actualexperiment that the difficulties heretofore encountered with automaticbottle handling machines for use in such connection, such as theupsetting and breaking of bottles,is effectively done away with. It is,of course,`immaterial what be the extent of the table, and where anautomatic corking or sealing machine is employed it will suliice if theconveyer belt, that carries the filled bottles away from the machine,simply carries such bottles to such sealing machine, Without a specialeXtension for the manual handling of the bottles being provided, asinthe present case.

In the modification shown in Figs. 7 and 8, the rollers 12 are carriedby brackets 45 that are adjustably attached to the table by setbolts 46.The tension of the belts 9 and l0, may, by this means, be still furthervaried.

In referring herein to operationof the gate-member 24 by engagement ofsuccessive holders 5 with the roller-bearing arm 32 of said member, itwill be understood that said holders merely typify any corresponding,spaced elements on the rotatable, or

moving, portion of the filling machine,

which are adapted one after the other to thus actuate the member. Theholders, specifically, are desirably utilized in the par-V ticularpatented machine previously referred to because in such machine theyhave a ver-v tical reciprocatory movement, and unless lowered into theproper plane e., that of the table l), the gate member 24 should ofcourse not be actuated. The same remark applies to operation of thelinger 38, which normally lies above the plane of the holders when inproper lowered position for the discharge of the filled bottles, butwhich will be engaged by said holders, or their supports, if the latterare notjthus positioned.

Other modes of applying the principle of my invention may be employedinstead of the one explained, change being made as regards the mechanismherein disclosed, provided the means stated by any of the followingclaims or the equivalent of such stated means be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my inventionl. The combination with a machine ofthe character described having aseries of conjointly movable holders for bottles or the like; of aconveyer passing adjacent to the path of movement of said holders; anoscillatory member havin one portion' adapted to receive and trans er abottley from said conveyer to a holder and another portion 4 adapted tostop the movement of the bottles by said conveyer; and means normallyretalningfsuch stop-portion of said member in operative position. Y

2. The combination with a machine of the character described having aseries of conjointly movable holders for bottles or the like; of, aconveyer passing adjacent to the Y path of movement of said holder; anoscillatory' member having one portion adapted to receive and transfer abottle' from said conveyer to al holder and another portion adapted tostop the movement of the bottles by said conveyer; and gravity-actuatedmeans normally retaining such stop-portion of said member in operativeposition.

3. The combination with a machine of the character described having aseries of conjointly movable holders for bottles or the like; of aconveyer passing adjacent to the path of movement of said holder; anoscillatory memberv having one portion adapted to receive and transfer abottle from said conveyer to a holder and another portion adapted tostop the movement of the bottles by said conveyer; means tending to movesaid member tol placesuch stop-portion thereof in operative position;and means adapted to move said member into position to receive a bottle,said first-named means being thereupon adapted positively to trans'- ferthe bottle, thus received, onto an adjacent holder. V

di. The combination with a machine of the character described having aseries of con'-A jointly movable holders for bottles or the like; of aconveyer passing adjacent to the path of movement of said holder; anoscillatory member havin one portion adapted to receive and trans er abottle from said conveyer to a holder and anotherV portion adapted tostop the movement of the botties by said conveyer; gravity-actuatedmeansq tending to move' said member to place such stop-portion thereofin operative position; and-means adapted 'to move said member intoposition to receive a bottle, said irst-named means being thereuponadapted positively to transfer the bottle, thus re ceived, onto anadjacent holder.

5. The combination with a machine of the character described having aseries of conjointly movable. holders for bottles or the like; of aconveyer passing adjacent to the path of movement of said holder; anoscillatory member havin one portion adapted to receive and trans er abottle from said conveyer to a holder and another portion adapted tostopthe movement of thev bottles by said conveyer; gravity-actuated meanstending to move said member to vplace such stop-portion thereof inoperative position; and means operable by said holders to move saidmember in position to receive a bottle, said lirst-named means beingthereupon adapted positively to transfer the` bottle, thus received,onto an adjacent holder.) 1

6. The combination with a machine of the character described havin aseries of conjointly. movable holders or bottles or theV like; of aconveyer passing adjacent to the path of' movement of said holders; apivotal finger adapted inl one position to transfer bottles fromsuccessive holdersl `onto said f conveyer and 'in another position to,lie cleai-` 130 of such bottles; and a spring connected With said fingereccentrically of its axis and tending to retain the same in Whichever.

position it is placed.

7 The combination with a machine of the character described having aseries of conjointly movable holders for bottles or the like; of aconveyer passing adjacent to the path of movement of said holder; anoscillatory member havin one portion adapted to receive and trans er abottle from said l conveyer to a holder and another portion adapted tostop the movement of the bottles by said conveyer; a lever connectedWith said member to oscillate the same; and a JOSEPH H. CHAMP. Attestedby- Y F. L. HINDS, v JOHN H. ROBERTS.

